FCFS vs MCTA vs ULTA Stock Comparison

FirstCash Holdings, Charming Medical and Ulta Beauty Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FCFS FirstCash Holdings, Inc.
$187.55 -11.9% 1M +15.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.99B
P/E
19.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.29B
Div. yield
–
Consumer Lending Financial Services
5 wins
MCTA Charming Medical Ltd
$29.35 0.0% 1M +33.3% 1Y
Market cap
$445.47M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Personal Services Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
ULTA Ulta Beauty, Inc.
$649.80 +18.7% 1M +24.5% 1Y
Market cap
$27.73B
P/E
22.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.96B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Retail Consumer Discretionary
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

FirstCash Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (FirstCash Holdings 5, Ulta Beauty 4, Charming Medical 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFCFSMCTAULTALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.99B $445.47M $27.73B ULTA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.7x -20,929x 22.9x FCFS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.4x — 23.2x FCFS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.9% — +11.2% FCFS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.5% — 9.3% FCFS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.7% — 42.9% ULTA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.3x — 0.1x ULTA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +15.6% +33.3% +24.5% MCTA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.8%/yr — +10.7%/yr FCFS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.8% 25.7% 36.1% MCTA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 — 66/100 ULTA

Percentile Scorecard

FCFSMCTAULTA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisFCFSMCTAULTA
Valuation 44 #94 of 168 0 #34 of 34 22 #85 of 108
Growth 75 #42 of 163 – 59 #43 of 104
Profitability 75 #39 of 154 – 96 #5 of 103
Financial Health 67 #54 of 161 87 #6 of 40 66 #40 of 114
Shareholder Returns 27 #99 of 136 – 88 #10 of 77
Overall 58 – 66
  • FCFS ranked among 173 companies in Lending and Credit
  • MCTA ranked among 40 companies in Consumer Services
  • ULTA ranked among 116 companies in Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodFCFSMCTAULTASPY
1 month -11.9%0.0%+18.7% -5.9%
3 months -8.8%0.0%+20.6% -4.6%
6 months -16.6%0.0%+23.4% +0.2%
Year to date +17.7%0.0%+7.4% +7.5%
1 year +15.6%+33.3%+24.5% +8.2%
3 years +70.7%—+68.4% +68.3%
3 years, per year +19.5%—+19.0% +19.0%
5 years +116.9%—+65.8% +56.5%
5 years, per year +16.8%—+10.7% +9.4%
10 years +312.7%—+184.8% +251.5%
10 years, per year +15.2%—+11.0% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureFCFSMCTAULTASPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.8%25.7%36.1% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 40.9%—35.8% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.750.280.53 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.421.300.68 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -30.3%-25.6%-44.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.7%0.0%-8.1% -5.9%
52-week high $236.43$29.35$706.82 $779.14
52-week low $148.05$20.66$450.75 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleFCFSMCTAULTA
P/E now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 11.9x -20,929xmedian 12.1x 23.1xmedian 18.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.7x 92.7xmedian 1.0x 2.1xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 12.1x —median 8.3x 14.4xmedian 9.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.5xmedian 5.4x -286.4xmedian 10.5x 24.2xmedian 15.3x
P/B now vs peer median 3.5xmedian 0.7x 86.0xmedian 1.7x 10.5xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.87median 0.34 —median 0.28 6.54median 0.87

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsFCFSMCTAULTA
Revenue $4.29B – $12.96B
Gross profit $2.15B – $5.09B
Operating income $553.59M – $1.61B
Net income $406.49M – $1.21B
Free cash flow $518.18M – $1.15B
EPS (diluted) $9.38 – $28.10
Cash & equivalents $203.16M $4.70M $158.45M
Total debt $2.45B $185.80K $339.58M
Shares (diluted) 43.34M 16.15M 43.06M
Enterprise value $7.36B $439.45M $26.60B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricFCFSMCTAULTA
P/E 19.9x -20,929x 23.1x
P/FCF 15.5x -286.4x 24.2x
P/Operating cash flow 11.8x – 17.7x
P/S 1.9x 92.7x 2.1x
P/B 3.5x 86.0x 10.5x
P/Tangible book 3.9x 86.0x 11.4x
EV/EBITDA 15.0x – 14.4x
EV/EBIT 18.6x – 17.3x
EV/Revenue 2.4x – 2.2x
EV/FCF 19.9x – 24.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.2x – 17.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.87 – 6.54

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFCFSMCTAULTA
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.9% – 11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.0% – 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 23.3% – 12.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.4% – 6.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 33.6% – 2.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 22.3% – -0.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 31.2% – 0.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 20.9% – -1.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 34.7% – 5.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 22.8% – 3.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.6% – 20.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.8% – 4.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.7% – 20.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.8% – 5.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFCFSMCTAULTA
Gross margin 50.2% – 39.3%
EBITDA margin 16.0% – 14.9%
Operating margin 12.9% – 12.5%
Pretax margin 12.9% – 12.4%
Net margin 9.5% – 9.3%
FCF margin 12.1% – 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 15.8% – 12.1%
Return on equity 17.7% – 46.6%
Return on assets 7.4% – 17.6%
Return on invested capital 8.7% – 42.9%
Return on capital employed 10.9% – 34.7%
Asset turnover 0.8x – 1.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x – 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFCFSMCTAULTA
Debt / assets 44.0% 1.9% 4.9%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.0x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.3x – 0.1x
Debt / FCF 4.7x – 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 59.1% 47.5% 62.0%
Equity / assets 40.9% 52.5% 38.0%
Interest coverage 3.9x – –
Current ratio 4.8x 1.9x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.4x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.5x 1.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.40 – 6.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFCFSMCTAULTA
Dividend yield 0.9% – –
Net buyback yield 3.4% – 4.3%
Shareholder yield 4.3% – 4.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusFCFSMCTAULTA
Forward P/E 16.4xFY2026 – 23.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.43FY2026 – $27.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +30.5%FY2026 – +9.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.7% – +20.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.25BFY2026 – $13.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.2%FY2026 – +4.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.9% – +13.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFCFSMCTAULTA
Held by institutions 97.2% – 97.9%
Institutions holding 502 – 1,019
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.9% – +0.5%
Institutions buying 255 – 433
Institutions selling 166 – 436
Buyers to sellers 1.54 – 0.99

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

FCFSMCTAULTA
FCFS 1.00 0.01 -0.07
MCTA 0.01 1.00 0.00
ULTA -0.07 0.00 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FCFS, MCTA and ULTA?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is the largest by market capitalisation: FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) $7.99B, Charming Medical (MCTA) $445.47M, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) $27.73B.

Which stock is cheaper, FCFS, MCTA and ULTA?

FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 19.7x, Charming Medical (MCTA) -20,929x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 22.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) is cheapest (FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 16.4x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 23.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) +22.9%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) has the highest net margin (FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 9.5%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 9.3%). On return on invested capital, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) leads (FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 8.7%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 42.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Charming Medical (MCTA) returned the most: FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) +15.6%, Charming Medical (MCTA) +33.3%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +24.5%. Over five years, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) compounded fastest (FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) +16.8%/yr, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +10.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Charming Medical (MCTA) has been the steadiest (FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 36.8%, Charming Medical (MCTA) 25.7%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 36.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FCFS, MCTA and ULTA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.